About Vote 18
Vote 18 is a fun, fast-paced interactive game taught at high schools during one class period. It teaches students the history of voting, makes it relevant in their lives, and engages them in the world of politics. The goal of Vote 18 is to motivate students to register to vote when they turn eighteen, show them the value of their vote, and motivate them to stay politically engaged over the long term.
We believe that students who are inspired to take part in politics will become lifelong voters.
Board of Directors
Walt Townes
President, Co-Founder
Walt Townes is a successful entrepreneur who is passionate about democracy and the importance of voting. While working as a volunteer on the 2004 presidential campaign he received numerous requests from educators to come to their schools and talk to the students about the political process. Mr. Townes visited many schools and realized the majority of young people did not understand the voting process nor grasp its impact on themselves and their communities. In response, Mr. Townes developed Vote 18 to educate students about the history of democracy in America engage them in a way that makes it fun to learn and relevant to their lives.
Judi Roth
Vice President
Judi Roth is the Executive Vice President of the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons and Chair of its Education Committee. She moved full-time to Southampton in 2000 after a career in health care and higher-education administration. As Assistant Dean for Administration at Fordham Law School, she managed renovations, faculty relations and personnel. At Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Judi was the Administrator of Anesthesiology for 13 years running a department of over 200 staff with a budget exceeding $15 million dollars. She served on many University committees and was the editor of the Academic Practice Assembly newsletter and the founder of the Anesthesiology Assembly newsletter, iAwakeningsi.
In addition to her volunteer work with the League in the Hamptons, Judi wrote for the Independent newspaper, assists in the second grade reading program at the John Marshall K-6 School in East Hampton and is on the Board of the Peconic Community Council, a not-for profit agency that helps to network organizations committed to providing access to health and human services.
She is an active tennis player, swimmer, and hiker and is a member of both the Southampton and East Hampton Trails Preservation Societies.
Dr. Chris Malone
Development Leader for NYC-based Facilitator Corps
Dr. Christopher Malone is the Associate Professor of political science at Pace University in New York and Director of the Pforzheimer Honors College on the New York City campus. He teaches courses in American Politics and Political Theory. He was also the founding director the newly created American Studies Program at Pace.
A nationally recognized teacher of civic engagement and public values, Dr. Malone brings a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion about democracy to Vote 18. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he helped produce and appeared in the PBS show for teens In the Mix, which taught young voters about analyzing campaign ads. In January 2004 the Washington Post identified him as one of the nationis most innovative professors. Christopher has also been quoted in dozens of news articles on presidential elections and has appeared on local New York City television news shows analyzing presidential politics.
He is also the author of Between Freedom and Bondage: Race and Voting Rights in the Antebellum North (Routledge Press, 2007), and holds bacheloris degrees from Louisiana State University and Suffolk University, an M.A. from Fordham University, and a Ph.D. from The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York.
Understanding of the vital importance that young people play in the health and strength of our democracy, Christopher is a fundamental part of Vote 18is mission to excite and inspire Americais youth to vote and engage in civics.
Christopher proudly hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. When he is not teaching or writing, you might find him in the swamps and bayous of Southern Louisiana with a fishing pole in his hand.
Elizabeth Addonizio
Youth Voter Strategies Specialist
Elizabeth Addonizio works at Morgan Stanley in the Investment Banking Division. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Yale University, researching behavioral approaches to voter turnout, and a Lieutenant JG in the United States Naval Reserve. Previously, she served as the 9th Ward Alderwoman in New Haven, CT. As a Henry Luce Scholar, she worked in the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University and in the Economics Unit of the World Bank Resident Mission in Beijing, China. She has worked in the Inter-American Affairs Directorate of the National Security Council and in the Latin American Affairs Division of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. She is a former Fulbright Scholar, and holds a M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and a B.A. from Bucknell University.
Kyle Bergman
Development Leader for Vote 18 Vermont! Project
Kyle Bergman is an architect that designs and builds houses with his own firm, Bergman Design Team, and also collaborates on diverse projects both in the United States and abroad. He created and moderated an architectural lecture series about the process of design/build for the Smithsonian Institute, and has contributed to the design and execution of architecture exhibits at the Russian National Architecture Museum in Moscow and the New Oceanside Museum of Art in Oceanside, CA. Frustrated with the lack of resource material for quality new products, Kyle founded a publishing company that created Alt Spec - a visual resource for architects and designers. In 1993 he worked with the Greenlight Program, the EPAis early attempt to increase the use of Compact Florescent bulbs.
Eager to be out of the office, Mr. Bergman also teaches building and design courses in locales ranging from the Pacific Rim to the Dominican Republic. He is often invited to give lectures at the New York Institute of Technology and other universities across the globe.
Active in civics and education and passionate about empowering young people, Kyle is helping to bring the Vote 18 program into classrooms in Vermont and elsewhere in the Northeast. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Masters of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
Kristen Boilini
Southwest Regional Director
Kristen Boilini is the President of KRB Consulting, Inc, a Legislative and Government Relations Firm serving the Arizona area. Prior to managing the legislative practices for two prominent lobbying firms, Kristen worked for two gubernatorial administrations. She opened her own lobbying firm in 2000.
Kristen has developed a successful bi-partisan lobbying practice and worked on a number of ballot initiatives and assisted in the management of several political campaigns. Kristen serves as Vote 18’s Southwest Regional Director and is working to bring the program to school districts throughout Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Texas. She also plays a vital support role in Vote 18’s high profile facilitator development program training community leaders to teach the Vote 18 program in their local schools and districts.
Kristen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business/Finance, and a Master of Science Degree in Economics from Arizona State University. She currently represents clients before the Arizona State Legislature, Arizona Corporation Commission, administrative agencies, local governments and the Arizona Congressional Delegation providing her with a unique ability to help establish Vote 18 throughout Arizona as a flagship development model for other states.
Executive Team
Marco Ceglie
Executive Director, Co-Founder
Marco Ceglie is an outspoken voice for democracy. Formerly the National Co-Chair and Campaign Coordinator of a national issue-advocacy organization that used humor and satire to raise awareness of political and economic issues, Mr. Ceglie is an ardent believer in the power of positive messaging to both inspire and empower young people to become engaged in the political process.
Mr. Ceglie is also a successful entrepreneur, the coauthor of the novel Surveillance, and is currently working on the non-fiction book Democracy is a Joke, highlighting the use of humor to affect change in politics.
Vote 18's Non-Discrimination Policy
Vote 18 is an equal opportunity employer and does not discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin or veteran status with respect to recruiting, hiring, promotion, compensation and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.
Grievance Procedures
Employees, volunteers, and program recipients of Vote 18 are encouraged to address any complaints regarding violations of the Nondiscrimination Policy with Vote 18's President and Co-Founder, Walt Townes.